Bernard’s Dawn Chorus & Pick ‘n’ Mix for Monday, April 28

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey

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Bernard’s Dawn Chorus & Pick ‘n’ Mix for Monday, April 28

NZ short of 500 hospital beds; 200,000 waiting for appointments; MSD drops homelessness plan; 30% need help buying food; National breaks e-chargers promise; Inside our migrant abuse industrial complex

Bernard Hickey

Apr 27, 2025

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Transcript

An official briefing to the Health Minister warns “demand for acute services has outstripped hospital capacity”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The Kākā

The key long stories short in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, April 28 are:

There’s a nationwide shortage of 500 hospital beds and 200,000 people are waiting for a first specialist appointment.
MSD has stopped work on a programme to prevent homelessness because of front-line staff shortages after budget cuts.
Police appear to have lowered their fitness standards to recruit 500 more officers due to political pressure.
National has broken an election promise to grant $257 million for new electric chargers, choosing instead to lend $68.5 million to investors.
A third of New Zealanders need help getting food, a new survey shows.1
The Government has refused to agree to official advice that it review climate credits given to big industrial exporters.2

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Today’s Big Six

‘Too many people and not enough beds’

Officials have told the Government there is a nationwide shortage of 500 hospital beds, Nicholas Jones reported for Stuff3 yesterday.

Key bit:

The country is short of 500 hospital beds - a deficit that is piling pressure on services.
An official briefing to Health Minister Simeon Brown has revealed the hospital bed shortage, and warns “demand for acute services has outstripped hospital capacity”.
There are currently about 11,000 hospital beds across the country. Nicholas Jones for Stuff: NZ is short of 500 hospital beds

Also via Jess Roden at 1News on Saturday night: 200,000 Kiwis waiting for first specialist appointment. Access to first specialist appointments and elective procedures are among the Government's five health targets.

MSD suspends work on plan to prevent homelessness

The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) has stopped work on a plan to prevent people ending up in emergency housing because the ministry cannot cope with the workload, official documents show, as reported this morning by Lauren Crimp for RNZ.

Key bits (bolding mine):

A December MSD report to Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka said that was partly because it was too busy with work related to changes to the Jobseeker benefit.
But Potaka said while he agreed to end the first phase of the "early interventions" work to stop people needing emergency housing, the second phase would still go ahead, and he was due to receive advice on that "shortly".
The report showed phase one involved looking at what could be improved within the MSD system to help people struggling to get into, or remain in, a stable home.
Officials said they had started the work, but were too stretched to carry on.
"We do not recommend progressing further with phase one work at this time due to insufficient frontline capacity and wider organisational pressures. MSD's frontline capacity is currently oversubscribed, and there are wider organisational pressures because of the focus on implementing initiatives to support other government targets, including the Jobseeker target," the report said. Lauren Crimp for RNZ: Part of MSD programme to prevent people ending up in emergency housing scrapped

Political interference feared as Police lower standards

The Police appeared to have lowered their fitness standards for political reasons to achieve the Government’s goal of recruiting an extra 500 officers, Michael Morrah reported this morning for NZ Herald-$4.

Key bit (bolding mine):

The Herald understands the decision to allow substandard recruits into police college by way of an exemption would have been made at the top level of police.
Police sources, the Police Association and the Labour Party believe rules have been modified because of pressure from the Government to get 500 extra police by November – a policy described as a “priority” by the coalition Government when it made the announcement in May last year.
After the Herald asked whether exemptions were permitted under any circumstances, Assistant Police Commissioner Tusha Penny said police had “recently” discovered three applicants were approved to start police college without meeting requirements for the Physical Appraisal Test (PAT), which was a “clear breach” of policy. Michael Morrah for NZ Herald-$: 'Political interference': Hundreds of police applicants investigated

Electric charging funds promise broken

Transport Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announced the Government would lend up to $68.5 million in previously-allocated grant money to a new public-private loan scheme for electric charger installers. National had promised to grant $257 million to increase charger numbers from 1,400 to 10,000 by 2030.5

Key bits (bolding mine):

The Government will use $68.5 million set-aside for grants for new EV charging stations, to fund the loans. The scheme will be administered by National Infrastructure Funding and Financing (NIFFCo), the successor organisation to Crown Infrastructure Partners (which delivered ultra-fast broadband). The loans would be at 0% interest over a term of 13 years.
The funding is less than what National promised on the campaign, when it said it would invest $257m.
Bishop said he had been advised by officials that more funding would be needed to hit the 10,000 target — although the amount of money required would be less than $100m.
“There will be future investment required,” he said.
He said the $257m cost of the scheme National had budgeted during the election was a “back of the envelope” calculation “based on what we were seeing at the market at the time”.
During coalition negotiations, the Act Party secured a concession that any charging network be subject to a “robust cost benefit analysis to ensure maximum benefit for government investment”. Bishop said each investment will have a cost-benefit analysis and each successful applicant must demonstrate that the benefits of the project outweigh the costs. Thomas Coughlan for NZ Herald: Government plans to build thousands of EV chargers by 2030

Watts refuses advice that free credits need review

Climate Minister Simon Watts has rejected official advice that hundreds of millions of dollars of free climate credits for NZ Steel, Methanex, Rio Tinto, and Fletcher Building should be reviewed because there’s no evidence they work to reduce emissions, Eloise Gibson reported this morning for RNZ.

Inland Revenue and Treasury told the government there was no proper evidence that yearly subsidies to some of the country's biggest carbon polluters were needed. Their recommendation for a thorough review was met with a no thanks from Minister Simon Watts.
Inland Revenue and Treasury said a review might show a cheaper scheme would achieve the object, meaning the government could re-allocate some of that money to other priorities. The subsidies were meant to be a transitional measure, running from 2010-2030, but they have been extended.
At the current rate of phaseout - of 1 percent a year, rising to 3 percent in the 2040s - the government could still be subsiding heavy emitters in 2060.
That is despite the government having a goal of being carbon neutral in 2050. Eloise Gibson for RNZ: Ministers rejected advice to review climate grants

A third of NZers need help getting food

We can produce food for 41 million, our farmers say, but a new survey shows nearly two million New Zealanders can’t afford the food, after paying for rent etc. A third of New Zealanders need help getting food, a new survey by Consumer NZ shows. It was released last week.

Key bits (bolding mine):

The survey also revealed the growing impact of rising prices on households. Thirty percent of people have needed help over the past year to get food – for example, from foodbanks, friends, family or Work and Income – based on the survey results.
The cost of living remains the highest concern for New Zealanders across all age groups and has for three years according to its Sentiment Tracker. Consumer NZ survey: Despite low confidence in government efforts, people want urgent action to lower grocery bills

The best of the rest elsewhere

My Pick ‘n’ Mix Six scoops, deep-dives and breaking news

Poverty, justice & health deep-dive by Craig Kapitan for NZ Herald: How desperate business loan led single mum into meth syndicate’s inner circle27 Apr 07:00 PM
Poverty deep-dive by Jenny Ling for Northern Advocate: 'People are working their hearts out': The struggle of Northland's workers
Housing market deep-dive by Nikki Preston for One Roof: 'Change your attitude': Real estate boss's sobering advice to homeowner with no plan B
Investigation into Destiny Church by John Campbell for 1News: ‘I’ve never encountered so much fear’
Geopolitics news via WSJ (free) Cargo Shipments from China to U.S. Slide Toward a Standstill
Geopolitics news via Reuters: Panic in Pakistan as India vows to cut off water supply over Kashmir

Deep-dive of the day: ‘Our (very) dirty (not so) little secret’

This deep-dive published yesterday in Stuff from Steve Kilgallon is another excellent investigation into how our migrant abuse industrial complex actually works.

Key bits (bolding mine):

“This is New Zealand’s dirty little secret,” says cleaning company boss Dominic Drumm. “How does this happen in New Zealand?”
Drumm is among several senior figures in the commercial cleaning industry to speak of their concerns about the poor treatment of workers in the highly-competitive commercial franchise cleaning industry
Talking generally about the franchised cleaning sector, not Crewcare specifically, Drumm, who owns Auckland cleaning company Westferry Services, said when franchise cleaning was done badly, it was a “filthy, filthy model”.
He directly employs his cleaners, who are covered by an industry-wide collective agreement, which means they must earn 30c an hour above minimum wage. Government institutions and some community organisations pay their cleaners the living wage ($27.80).
Franchise cleaners, even if they are a one-man band, typically form their own company and buy a franchise from a master franchisee, which in turn guarantees them a minimum amount of work. Drumm, who employs about 200 staff, said he had got into the industry believing it could be done better and with a closer focus on employee welfare, particularly of recent migrants. “These people … very often turn up on my doorstep looking for a job and they are in tears.
“You can judge a society on how you look after your most vulnerable people … those at the bottom of the socio-economic scale, we are really failing them.”
The industry’s representative body, the Building Services Contractors Inc (BSC), says it has raised the issue with ministers on both sides of the political spectrum for years, but without success.
BSC is calling for a law change to protect franchise cleaners, who are not covered by minimum wage laws, trade unions, or the Labour Inspectorate because they are technically business owners. By Steve Kilgallon for Stuff: ‘Dirty little secret’: The dark heart of the cleaning industry

Quote of the day: ‘Why consent homes in flood zones?’

"We saw when an atmospheric river like Gabrielle unleashes massive rainfall it's too much for normal drainage and flood management.
"So why are we still consenting to new builds on flood-prone land? It seems obvious we shouldn't be doing this." Auckland Mayoral Candidate Kerrin Leoni says 2,325 new builds, - 15% of all consents granted in Auckland last year, were on flood plains. Via Jessica Hopkins for RNZ: Auckland councillor wants mayor to pressure government over building consents

Number of the day: $150,320 per year

A year on from the launch of David Seymour’s Ministry for Regulation's creation, the average salary for its staff continues to top $150,000 - well above the sector-wide average of just over $100,000. New figures record an average annual salary at the agency of $150,320 across 70 permanent staff and 17 fixed-term staff, Craig McCulloch reported for RNZ.

Doc of the day: An analysis of the RMA reforms

Dr Greg Severinsen and Shay Schlaepfer have analysed the Assessment of Expert Advisory Group key points and related Cabinet recommendations for Phase 3 of the RMA reforms for the Environment Defence Society. Here’s the full analysis document.